"Tomb Raider" may borrow heavily from the likes of "Lost" and "Uncharted," but it also boasts a younger, more vulnerable Lara Croft who finally seems like more than a busty gun-toting gaming icon.

This polished reboot covers all the bases for an adventure game - shipwreck, lost civilization, hostile inhabitants, supernatural intrigue - and for a while, these well-worn elements work together because you're focused on the task of mere survival. This formula works best in the early stages, when Lara finds herself isolated from the rest of the crew while foraging for food and tools in ruins ranging from ancient temples to World War II bunkers as well as downed aircraft.

Of course, there are others on the island. The appearance of this well-armed and hirsute group - survivors who find themselves trapped on the island - adds a cat-and-mouse element to the proceedings, and Lara skulking in the shadows armed only with a bow and arrow leads to some wonderfully tense moments.

Then Lara gets hold of a gun. Before long, bodies start dropping by the hundreds and the game hurtles from harrowing survival drama to explosion-happy blockbuster.

The third-person gunplay puts the game squarely in "Uncharted" territory - something the multiplayer mode makes even more obvious - but the gunbattles are satisfying as far as action sequences go (even if it's a bit too easy to pull off headshots). Gunplay in "Tomb Raider" has always felt like a chore between the puzzle solving, so it's nice to see shootouts developing naturally - if frequently - between rescue missions and run-ins with hunting parties. But as Lara acquires an increasingly powerful arsenal of weapons, the gameplay shifts decidedly into action mode. It's one thing to address a weak point and make it satisfying; it's another for shootouts to be the default way of getting from point A to B.

(Where does this leave the actual tomb raiding? Well, there are various hidden tombs throughout the island that are a nice nod to the game's puzzle-solving roots, but that only underscores how what was once the game's core is reduced to side missions.)

The escalating violence comes as the story slowly shifts to one of revenge, but it comes at the price of the carefully crafted sense of place earlier in the game. By the time Lara is blowing up a shantytown with a grenade launcher, she might as well be anywhere, and in any game.

There's also a sadistic streak that feels out of sync. Playing up a younger Lara's doubts and fears makes her feel more human, but her physical trials - impalement and bone-crunching drops, swimming through a literal river of blood - feel uncomfortably like torture porn.

It's worth noting that for once we actually care enough about Lara that our gaze is frequently drawn to the plaintive expression in her eyes. Her progression from innocent survivor to avenging angel is tied too easily to gun-heavy gameplay, but she's finally as intriguing as the environment she explores.